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This is a radical experiment. You may've heard of collective switches for energy, where a 'trusted intermediary' (such as us or a council) lets firms bid to provide special, market-beating tariffs. Well, we decided to try it for broadband, using the huge reach of this email (10m recipients) to see what they'd come up with.

We've had a stonking success in one category (TV), decent in two (line & b'band, & superfast) and mostly flopped in one (b'band, no line rent). I've put key info below, yet use our postcode checker which shows which of our deals you can get, and how they stack up against an independent comparison. Here are our winners:

This TalkTalk special deal won. It's available to 95% of the UK (check if you can get it) provided you are a new TalkTalk customer (ie, you don't currently have its line, b'band or TV). Also, if you need a new line, installation is free.

Both its broadband (up to 17Mb) & a router are 'free' with line rental and that's reduced to £8.35/mth for 12mths, then it's a standard £16.70/mth for the remaining 6mths - so an average £11.13/mth over the contract. How does it compare? It's the market's cheapest, though we've previously seen cheaper. Next cheapest pay monthly is SSE equiv £12/mth, or if you pay the line upfront TalkTalk has a £287 deal over 18mths, and gives a £100 Love2Shop vch - factor that as a discount and it's equiv £10.41/mth.

Customer service? TalkTalk's ranked poorly in the past - now it's the low end of middle. Sadly, it hasn't agreed to boost customer service for this, so being an 'MSE collective' doesn't, in this case, mean you can expect better. Millions use it without problem, but not everyone, so it's your call.

These stonking 12mth contract Sky special deals are avail to 93% of the UK, 80% for fibre, (check if you can get 'em). Sadly, you need to be a new Sky customer, ie, haven't had its services for 12mths. There are ONLY 15,000+ codes so go quick. Existing Sky customer? Cut costs with Sky haggle tricks.

Add all that in (except HD) and it's £420.75/yr, equiv of £35.06/mth over the contract. For a new line (incl switching from cable) there's a £20 fee.

How does it compare? On the 12mth Deal 1 contract you'd pay equiv £35/mth with this compared to £102 at Sky's standard price - that's a saving of £800/year. Even the next best Sky deal we can find is equiv £69/mth for the same channels - though you can get cheaper if you just want basic TV.

While it's difficult to compare, the cheapest near equivalent we can find via Virgin/BT/TalkTalk is £70+/mth (plus you get a £100 Love2Shop voucher). See Digital TV deals.

Customer service? It's providing boosted customer service for this deal, and 77% of its existing b'band & phone customers rate it 'OK' or 'great'.

These two 12mth contract Sky special deals are available to 80% of the UK (check if you can get 'em). You need to be a new Sky customer - ie, haven't had any of its services for 12mths - and there are ONLY 15,000+ codes (for all 3 deals combined) so it could end v. soon.

The broadband speed is 'up to 38Mb' (not its faster 76Mb option) though with fibre, you're more likely to get closer to the rate advertised.

Both these superfast deals have the same line rental and TV package as Deal 1 explained in TV deals above, but here's the extra fibre b'band info:

- Deal 2: 'Free' Sky fibre 25GB/mth download limit: This is easy to use (go over and it can add charges, but usually just bumps you up, in this case by £10/mth, onto its unlimited deal for the rest of the contract.) It's the same price as Deal 1 plus £30 activation, so £450.75/yr, equiv to £37.56/mth. - Deal 3: Unlimited download: This adds a £30 activation fee and £10/mth (half the standard price) to the Deal 1 prices, which means it's £570.75/yr, equiv to £47.56/mth.

How do they compare? Compared with other line, broadband & all-in TV deals these are v. good value. Yet if you just want superfast with basic TV there's a different Sky deal (not in our collective) that can undercut it.

If you don't want TV, just line & superfast broadband, then these Plusnet & Virgin deals are the market cheapest and substantially undercut it.

•

WINNER: Cheapest broadband ONLY (no line rent) option- We failed to get any bids at all, barring...- Relish £15/mth avail some bits of central London (12mth contract)

I get asked about this constantly, so we tried, to little avail. Plaudits to our only bidder, but it's only for central London & more costly than the winning line & b'band bundle (so you could get that & not plug in a phone).

The Relish special deal is for selected London areas (check if you can get it) and runs off the 4G network, like smartphones. And like smartphones, the signal can vary and may not be as consistent as home broadband. Speeds are 'up to 50Mb' - get a more precise estimate when checking availability.

Its standard deal is £20/mth - ours is £15/mth but with a refurbished not new router, with a 12mth warranty, and the trivial fact it'll offer a £20 Amazon vch for each friend you refer who gets it.

How it compares:Virgin's next cheapest no line rent deal's £28.50/mth.

Customer service? Too small for us to have significant feedback.

The MSE Big Broadband Switch Event FAQsEverything you need to know about the collective switch and how it works

Q.

Does MSE make money if I switch via this? A. Yes. Typically comparison / editorial sites earn £50 for switching broadband-type deals (it can be much more) - though you still get at least as good a deal as going direct. For this we mostly earn substantially less to help make the discount stronger.

The money is used to pay the team who've worked long & hard on this, our overheads and hopefully some profit too.

As always, we only ever write based on editorial independence in the consumer interest as enshrined by our legally binding Editorial Code.

Q.

Are these the full details of the deals? A. No - we’ve summarised each deal’s key points above, but if you go to our site you’ll find a full write-up.

Q.

What's the switch process? A. New rules since June mean it's your new provider's job to contact your old provider to cancel the contract - unless you're switching to/from Virgin when you need to call to get a Migration Authority Code (MAC). For more on switching, see Cheap Broadband.

Q.

How long does switching take and will I lose service? A. Sky and TalkTalk say the switch date'll normally be about two weeks after ordering, though it depends, eg, if you need a new line. You should only lose service for a few minutes (unless switching from cable - then it can be a day).

Q.

Can costs increase during the contract? A. Yes, if firms increase their standard prices, any related prices can rise (eg, if you're on half-price Sky Sports and Sky Sports' price rises, you'll pay half the new amount). The free elements will stay free. If they do increase prices, rules state they'd need to give you 30 days' notice and you could leave penalty-free within that.

Q.

Do I have a cooling-off period? A. Yes, 14 days. After that, changing your mind generally won't stop you being locked into a contract.

Q.

Will I get the speed it advertises? A. Unlikely. Sadly, we have to use 'up to' as that's the way Ofcom says providers can communicate it. It means only 10% of customers need get the max speed. Your exact speed depends on many factors - use this broadband speed test* to see what you get now and StreetStats* to see what others in your area get with different providers.

Q.

What can I do if I don't get decent speeds? A. Ofcom rules say you can leave penalty-free within 3mths if speeds fall below the guaranteed minimum (which you'll be told before you sign up). Though from next Jan you can leave at any point (ie, beyond 3mths) if it doesn't meet the min.

Q.

I'm still in contract - can I switch? A. You can, but it's likely you'll have to pay a cancellation fee, and the cost of the remainder of the contract.

Q.

What happens to the prices after the contract ends? A. They'll usually shoot right up, but then you're free to ditch & switch or haggle.

Q.

Who's responsible for these tariffs, MSE or the firm? A. They are. Yet we don't use our name lightly so ask all providers to set up special customer help teams with max 48hr response times. They all agreed except TalkTalk as noted above (but we decided to give you the choice).

Why are these deals only available in some areas? A. Firms tend to be only able to give the really cheap prices if they have their own kit in exchanges (I'm oversimplifying - it's called 'unbundled exchanges'). Otherwise it's usually either not available, or at a much higher price. PS: If you're in Hull, sorry, you've a legalised monopoly provider called Kingston, and outrageously no one else is allowed to compete.

Q.

Is superfast fibre broadband worth it? A. If you're only online for web, emails, social media & occasional streaming, probably not - just boost your broadband speed. However if you're a heavy downloader, watch lots of telly or several people in your home use it at once, fibre can be a boon.

Q.

Could cheaper deals launch? A. That's always possible - if so, we'll feature them in our Cheap Broadband and Digital TV guides. Plus, we have imported an independent comparison site into our collective switch results page so you can check how our collective deals stand up against it.

A balance transfer card is the key tool to cut the cost of existing credit and store card debts. It's a special deal on a new card to repay debt on old card(s) for you, so you owe it instead at 0%. This means your cash clears the amount you owe rather than just servicing the interest. Thankfully the deals available now are by far the best we've ever seen...

New. Balance transfer fees slashed. The past battleground was for ever longer 0%s, but as they lengthened, the one-off fee rose as high as 3.5% of the amount transferred (ie, £35 per £1,000). Now the fight's slashing fees - in recent weeks we've seen a new longest no-fee 0% card, the longest 0%'s cut its fee & there are now rock-bottom fees on three 32mth 0% cards. The key rule is: GET THE LOWEST FEE CARD WITHIN THE TIME YOU'RE SURE YOU CAN CLEAR IT.

TOP PICK BALANCE TRANSFER CREDIT CARDS (for new cardholders - so apply for a card you haven't got)

How much can you save? You can save £100s in interest costs - some even save £1,000s, as Shar emailed us: "Whoop and get in. I managed to shift store cards and credit cards to 0% saving £4,710 on interest. Cheers."

The Balance Transfer Golden Rules. It's not just about picking the right card, it's about using it the right way...

a) Don't just apply willy-nilly, that marks your credit file. First use the Eligibility Calc to find your best chance. b) Never miss the min monthly repayment or you can lose the 0% deal and it'll cost far more. c) Clear the card or balance transfer again before the 0% ends, or the rate rockets to the rep APR. d) Don't spend/withdraw cash on these. It usually isn't at the cheap rate & cash withdrawals hit your credit file. e) Unsure what to pick? Use our Which Card Is Cheapest? tool. Full help in Best Balance Transfers (APR Examples).

Our techie bods surprised us by revealing Google trends show 'train tickets' searches peak in August - so we want to help. In the farcical world of train tickets, it's about trying illogical tricks. Full info in Cheap Train Tickets, but here's a taster:

Book 12 weeks ahead. There are only limited numbers of super-cheap advance tickets and usually they're launched 10-12wks ahead so book then. See when to book.

You can book advance tickets late. Never assume it's too late. If not sold out, some firms let you buy 15mins before the train. See firm-by-firm last deadlines.

Free split ticket tool saves £££s. Same train, same time, buy 2 tickets and you may save large. On one B'ham-Basingstoke single it is £57, yet the train stops in Banbury (you needn't change) so buy B'ham-Banbury and Banbury-Basingstoke and in total it's £28, saving £29. Our free Tickety Split tool shows if you can split & the savings. Chris tweeted: "Used it on Cov to Manch, split at Stafford 1st class for 2, saved £207."

Are you a family, couple, under 26, student, over 60 or disabled? There's a railcard for you (yes even couples now) and if you'd spend over £90/yr (even on one journey), as it gets 1/3 off, you save. Is there a railcard for you?

Turn a £5 Tesco vch into £10 on trains. You can up to double Clubcard vchs' value with Red Spotted Hanky (£1 booking fee) or get 50% off Family, 16-25 and Senior annual railcards by using £15 of Clubcard vchs.

SUCCESS OF THE WEEK: (Send us yours on this or any topic)"I took out a loan a few months ago and realised it was a terrible rate, paying £7.5k in interest on £15k. I applied for a new loan thanks to your email on cheap personal loans and it was approved. The total interest is around £1k so I used it to pay off the previous one, saving £6.5k in interest."

Don't assume you never had payment protection insurance on loans, cards or catalogues. Even if you always said no, sometimes it was added anyway. As Chick emailed: "Never thought I'd be entitled, but on the off chance I wrote to MBNA about an old credit card. Today I banked £1,467.05. Result." Full help & templates in Reclaim PPI for Free. In short...

Huge £47,000 back. While we're talking successes (and we estimate we've had billions of £s-worth) one of our biggest came in yesterday. "I went for a PPI claim thanks to Martin's tips and encouragement on MSE. I received just over £47k. After years of being a single mum in debt I can live my life and move on." (anonymity requested)

What counts as mis-selling? PPI isn't a bad product, it was just systemically mis-sold on loans & credit cards, and sometimes overdrafts, catalogues & mortgages. It was the lender's job to ensure it was right for you when it sold it. Common mis-selling incl: 1) It lied that it was compulsory or would get you lower interest; 2) It sold unemployment cover to the self-employed/students/retirees; 3) It didn't warn your pre-existing conditions were excluded. See the Mis-selling Checklist.

Reclaim for FREE. For most it's as easy & successful to do it yourself as it is to use a claims firm that'll take 30% of your cash (would've been £14,000 on the £47k payout). We've had 5,952,361 free template letters downloaded and huge successes. And remember if you're rejected you can go to the FREE Financial Ombudsman Service, which upholds 60% of PPI claims (ie, ones banks have turned down). See How To Reclaim.

Got questions? Don't worry, we've got it covered. We've been doing this a long time so have built up a bank of FAQs answering 60+ PPI questions incl: 1) I've no paperwork? 2) Can I claim if the debt's repaid? 3) Can I claim for a deceased relative? 4) Can the bank use my payout to clear my IVA? 5) Do I pay tax? And more. Give it a try.

MSE team corner

Discussion of the week

This week, our forumites discuss the unlikely coincidences that have happened in their day-to-day lives. From delivering the baby of an unknown family member to school friends with the same name, share your uncanny stories in the It's a small world discussion.

Question of the week

Q: I'm looking for car insurance for my 18-yr-old son but I've been quoted £2,000 a year. I was told if he adds a second driver it might be cheaper. Correct? Anne, via email.

MSE Tony's A: If he adds a responsible second driver, eg, you, as long as you or that person has a good driving record, it may make it cheaper so is definitely worth a go.

Not every process in trying to make car insurance savings makes sense at first glance and adding a second driver is definitely one of them.

The premium is based on how much of a risk insurers perceive drivers to be - so if you add someone deemed lower risk the average risk will fall. It is a trial and error process but we have heard of great successes. We added a 40-year-old family member as an 'occasional' user (not main driver - that's fraudulent unless they really are) to an 18-year-old's policy which cut the cost by approx £1,000. It won't always work, but it's worth checking.

There are many other tricks to try to cut the cost of insurance for young drivers. These include combining multiple comparison sites, not assuming third party is cheapest and checking 'pay-how-you-drive' policies. Full info in our Young Drivers' Car Insurance guide.

What not to do when you meet someone with a disability..."Wow, you're so brave, are you on a special scheme?"

That's it for this week, but before we go, check out charity Scope's new campaign to end the awkwardness around disability in this End the Awkward short film. PS: Be prepared to cringe.

We hope you save some money,

Martin & the MSE team

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